Here With Me
by Ichiban Victory
Summary: Set a few years after the main Slayers series, Amelia and Zelgadis are traveling about still searching for Zelgadis' cure. Something happens along the way that will put Zelgadis' life at risk, testing Amelia's resolve. Complete!
1. Enter the Adventurers!

A lone owl's call split the stillness of the night, shaking Zelgadis from his thoughts. Not a thing had disturbed the quiet night, aside from the lone owl, so Zelgadis decided to investigate. As he snuck through the woods, he came upon a rather large encampment, all things considered, but he didn't see a single soul out patrolling.

He smiled despite himself.

Zelgadis made his way towards the entrance of the main stronghold, seeing the two guards sleeping soundly, the guarded door left wide open. Zelgadis' smile grew into a large grin as he walked quietly passed the guards and walked right through the open door, the guards never so much as rolling over in their sleep.

The inside was pretty much the same as outside: silent halls, with no guards patrolling. Every so often Zelgadis passed by a figure slumped against the wall, but like the guards outside, they too were fast asleep. He made sure not to jostle any of the sleeping men as he continued deeper into the stronghold, until at last he came to the room he'd been seeking.

He put an ear to the door and held his breath. He could hear one person inside the room quietly shuffling around, but nothing more. With a smirk, Zelgadis pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"You're getting really good at this," Zelgadis' smirk grew wider.

The occupant of the room whirled around, stopping when she recognized the intruder. "Mister Zelgadis, not so loud. Sleeping can be undone by normal methods." Amelia scolded in a loud whisper, putting her finger up to her mouth to reaffirm what she had just said.

Zelgadis quirked a brow. "I saw the guards, Amelia. I've a feeling that even if I kicked one, he'd not stir. You've really outdone yourself."

Amelia ducked her head shyly. "T-thanks, Mister Zelgadis. I just think this is a better way to get what you want. Not that I would be opposed to smashing anyone with the Hammer of Justice, but...well, you know." Amelia shrugged.

Zelgadis nodded. "This has been nice. If you were to leave now, I don't know if I could go back to how I used to do my research. You're sure your family doesn't mind you being away?" Zelgadis approached Amelia to see what she had been looking through.

Amelia shook her head. "With my sister home and having reassumed her duties, I'm not needed. I suppose I would be stuck inside all day signing treaties and proposals..."

Zelgadis gave a slight jerk in surprise, gaping at Amelia.

Amelia looked up in surprise at his sudden reaction, quickly amending her statement, "That is, LAW proposals. For new laws...and things like that. Nothing more." She gave a nervous laugh, but then smiled up at Zelgadis. "In any case, my family is just fine without me being home. Besides, by traveling the world with you I can do a lot of good. You did promise me any spells you don't need could be taken back to the Saillune Library."

Zelgadis gave a nod. "I did, and I meant it. I must be going soft, but I just can't see letting useful magic be kept hidden away."

Amelia hmmed quietly. "Come to think of it, it has been a long time since you started your journey, hasn't it?"

"Seven years," Zelgadis replied.

"Right! Seven years..." Amelia fell into thought. "Wow, so we've been traveling around like this for well over a year. Maybe I should write home soon to let them know how we're doing."

Zelgadis coughed. "We? Do you have to tell them about me?"

Amelia lightly smacked Zelgadis' arm. "Of course I do! Without you, I wouldn't be here right now. Besides, Daddy likes to know how you're doing."

Zelgadis felt his cheeks flush, but tried to wave it off. "One would think we were married or something..." he muttered.

"What was that?" Amelia asked.

Zelgadis jerked to attention. "Oh, ah, I was wondering what was in here. We should probably cut the chatter and get what we came for, before your spells wear off."

"Right," Amelia agreed. "So far I just found the usual treasure hoard, but nothing special."

Zelgadis' gaze fell to a pedestal near the back of the room. "What of that back there?" he pointed to the pedestal.

"Wow, good eye. It has some stone slab with writing on top, but it's in runes." Amelia made a weird face, getting a chuckle from Zelgadis.

"I really need to teach you how to read runes one of these days," Zelgadis called back as he worked his way to the stone slab. "It's true you'd not find holy magics written in runes, but they're worth knowing to read ancient text. History, as it were."

Amelia nodded. "That's a good point." She waited patiently for Zelgadis to translate the stone slab. At first he was staring at it intently, concentration written all over his face. As the minutes passed, Amelia glanced up again to see he now seemed rooted in place, his gaze not focused. "...Mister Zelgadis? What is it?"

No response came, but before Amelia could move toward Zelgadis, a loud laugh filled the room. "What, indeed. Just the thing to get you right where I wanted you, Princess!"

Amelia jerked around to find the source of the voice, finally seeing a man perched on top of an overhang built into the wall. She squinted to make him out in the poor lighting where he was at, only able to make out a man wearing long, dark robes. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

The man launched himself from the ceiling, coming to land gently via a Levitation spell nearby. "I've spent a great deal of time getting to know you, Princess. To think so soon after learning of your ability with golems, then learning such a woman was in the area with her golem. Fate has dropped you right into my hands."

"But I-" Amelia made to protest, her words not heeded by the man at all.

"Now come. A new world order is coming, and you get to be the special one to set it off." The man reached out to grab onto Amelia's arm.

"Don't touch me!" Amelia leaped back, stealing a glance back at Zelgadis. Her heart sank to see he was just as she'd seen him a moment before. "What makes you think I would go anywhere with you? And what did you do to Mister Zelgadis!"

The man grinned, pulling the hood of his robe more snugly over his head. "How quaint, you even named it." He grinned. "What I did is rather ingenious, really. I took a gamble, but I hit the jackpot! I've no idea how you made it seem so sentient, but no matter. It can't do anything now. Why, with a word I could utterly destroy it." As if to prove his point, the man began collecting magical energy in his fist, grinning madly all the while.

"You won't touch a hair on his head!" Amelia suddenly charged toward the man, fists raised and ready to smite.

The man only continued to grin. "You'll not have a say in the matter, Princess. Lafas Seed!"

Amelia's eyes bugged out in surprise as magical binds formed around her, trapping her arms against her sides, and binding her legs as well. Her momentum caused her to stumble, and she landed face-first against the ground. "How dare you!" Amelia spit dirt from her mouth, seething with anger. She began to rant against the misdeeds of man, but was stopped short when the man touched a finger to her forehead, causing her to black out.

"It would seem White Magic isn't completely useless after all. Now come, Princess _Gracia_, I have big plans for you."

To Be Continued…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's notes: -cue scary music- I'm baaaaaaack! Well, mostly. I still have a few weeks of school left, so I don't know if I'll have the next chapter posted until afterward, but we'll see what happens. (I'm _supposed_ to be working on final papers, but they're not nearly so fun to write.)

Anyway, yep, another idea I've been tossing around for a while. I wanted to start it forever ago, but the inspiration just wasn't there. Want to know what made it finally kick in? _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_, of all things! Seriously, I got it the other day and have been working to unlock all of the characters, being surprised when I got Marth. Quick history lesson: Back in the NES days Nintendo released Fire Emblem, a tactics game, for the NES. This was widely popular in Japan, and even got the start of an anime series based on it (that ADV, for whatever reason grabbed and released over here despite it being only a pilot, really). What does this have to do with Slayers? Marth, or Prince Marth, if you want to get technical, was voiced in the doomed anime by Hikaru Midorikawa who also provides the voice for our very own Zelgadis Greywords. He reprised the role in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and again for Brawl, so while I was playing Marth I kept thinking of Zelgadis, so there you go.

Long story short, video games are good.

As to the story itself, the opening is loosely based on the Mind Life doujinshi, which shows Amelia and Zelgadis working together to infiltrate a building, but the outcome was far different. I always liked the concept of Amelia and Zelgadis working together like that. Amelia would have very good spells at her disposal, such as an unlock spell or the sleep spell, which would keep Zelgadis from destroying everything in his wake as he seems prone to do when left to his own devices. (So to those who forever ago wanted me to write a 'fifteen years later' A/Z fic as I had done for L/G, the opening was essentially that.)

The time is only a few years after the main series (be it the anime, novels, manga, etc.), so Amelia and Zelgadis are both in their early 20s. Nothing too extreme. I do already have everything loosely planned, so please don't request certain things to happen. As it is, I think a lot of people will be surprised and perhaps irked at me when they realize just what I've done.

In any case, I'll go back to fighting a stupid illness and see whether I can clear my thoughts enough to get some more of this written out. Feel free to leave reviews. I like to know people are reading.

(Also, Slayers Revolution, the upcoming fourth anime season has been announced for later this year. Give a cheer!)


	2. A Dire Situation

She had no idea how long she was out, but shortly after waking, Amelia decided she was better off not knowing her situation. The first thing she noticed was the strange smell in the room, noting something metallic about it, the second being that the room was more like a hall, so large she wasn't quite sure of the exact size. Not seeing anyone nearby, Amelia's first reaction was to walk away, but the third thing she realized was that she was chained to a table of all things.

"Grgh," Amelia sighed, lastly noticing she was also gagged. She tugged at her chains to see how tight they were, dismayed to find she could barely move at all.

"Comfortable?" The voice from before rang out in the large hall, the owner of the voice emerging from the shadows not long after. He made a sweeping gesture behind him, drawing Amelia's attention to the throng of people behind him. The leader grinned when he saw his captive's eyes grow large with alarm.

"You really are something, Princess." He laughed. "Walking right into a trap and being none the wiser. Surely this is our Lord's will."

Amelia quivered in anger, causing her chains to clank against the table. She uttered something in response, but it was too muffled by her gag to understand.

The leader only laughed louder. "I do suppose it's rather rude of me to invite you here without telling you why, so allow me to enlighten you: what you came upon was no mere bandit hideout as you may have thought, little princess, but in fact those belonging to the sacred order of our Lord, Ruby Eye!"

The crowd seemed to come to life at this, offering up praises and prayers to the Dark Lord, before being shushed by their leader.

"You may have heard of us. We used to have a branch up in the northern lands, but it dispersed without a word as to why." The leader studied Amelia for a moment. "We feared for our brethren, but did not want to share their fate, so we became even more reclusive, not letting anyone know of our intent. Perhaps you could guess it at this point?" The leader smirked.

Amelia scowled, being sure to furrow her brow to show her displeasure. If this kook was anything like the man she'd encountered during her travels with Lina, the man was up to evil of the worst kind!

The leader didn't seem to pick up on her mental thinking. "Let me cut to the chase. In short we need a sacrifice to bring about the resurrection of our Lord, and what better sacrifice than a virgin princess from the country of White Magic itself?"

The crowd let out another cheer, before again being shushed by their leader.

The leader's expression suddenly changed to one of suspicion, then he sped over beside Amelia. "You _are_ a virgin, aren't you?"

"MWGH GW GAR?! Amelia protested, wishing for all the world she could spit the lousy gag in the leader's face.

"No need to get defensive, it was just a question." The leader scooted away, seemingly offended by Amelia's reaction. "You do seem rather fond of your creation, and, well, who am I to judge the private joys of royalty?"

Amelia wished for all the world to pulverize the leader, squirming about in her confines and causing quite a ruckus, but nothing more.

The leader seemed pleased to see Amelia getting so upset. "Good, Princess, very good. The greater your anger, the more power we'll have to resurrect our Lord. Do keep at it." The leader left Amelia to seethe in silence, turning his attention to his followers, directing them where to go and what to do. One follower brought up a small case, which he handed to the leader. The leader opened it to reveal a wicked dagger. He grinned, then returned to Amelia's side.

Amelia was still at the sight of the blade, sensing evil dripping from it. She had to think of a way to escape, and fast!

"It is rather awe-inspiring, isn't it?" The leader held his prize aloft, letting it gleam in the weak light in the room. "It's been passed down in my family for generations, waiting for the perfect moment. Legend says it just needs to feed on the blood of an innocent to revive Ruby Eye. Be honored, Princess Gracia."

Amelia tried to reason with the leader, but again the gag prevented her from doing much more than spouting gibberish. Her sudden outburst did seem to cause the leader to pause. He leaned down and tugged the gag from her mouth.

"Care to repeat that?"

Amelia gasped, "I'm not Princess Gracia!"

A look of alarm spread across the leader's face. "What do you mean you're not Princess Gracia? You are a princess, are you not? By the look of it, of Saillune stock at that. Are you trying to lie yourself out of this?"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Amelia replied. "I'm her younger sister, Amelia!" She then bit her tongue, not having meant to utter the second part. Darn the honesty streak, anyway!

The leader turned away and tapped his chin. "Hmm..so not the eldest, and yet still royal-born, and a virgin at that. On the one hand she could be telling the truth, to which I have no idea what the consequences could be. On the other, she could be lying, and she _was_ with a golem, odd as it appeared, but if I sacrifice her I don't know what the consequences would be. Hmm..

Amelia again tugged at her chains. "Where _is_ Mister Zelgadis? What did you do with him?" Worry was all too evident in her voice, her tugging suddenly turning to thrashing about again. "Mister Zelgadis?! MISTER ZELGADIS! HELP ME!! She shouted out, hoping he could hear her wherever he may be.

The leader whirled around and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Hush, you! I already told you your golem can no longer respond! As it is, it won't matter anyway, since your time ends now."

Amelia glared back at the leader, then opened her mouth to bite down on his hand, HARD. When he jumped away in pain she spit blood from her mouth, trying again to strain against the chains. "You'll never take me down that easily! The Hammer of Justice wi-rgh!" her speech was cut off by the leader stuffing the gag in her mouth again.

"Tricky little thing, aren't you?" The leader winced as he shook his injured hand in pain, "But that's not enough to stop me. You there!" He turned to a lone follower standing in the corner, "Begin the incantation now!"

The follower did as told, beginning to chant in a language Amelia could only decipher as demonic, which made her blood run cold. The leader shouted for others standing about the room to do likewise, Amelia feeling the energy about the room increasing in pressure. No matter what it was, she was about to find herself on the wrong end of a sacrifice!

The floor began to shake, a faint rumbling heard from deep underground. At first no one paid it any mind, until the rumbling grew louder, huge stone pillars erupting from underground, goring many followers.

Thinking this was part of the ritual, Amelia let out a muffled shriek! Her would-be executor, however, had turned his attention elsewhere, particularly the lone figure making its way through the room. Without a word the leader disappeared into the shadows, leaving Amelia still bound to the table.

The chaos of flying dust, blood, and screams confused Amelia, and she didn't notice until the last moment someone else coming up to her. Relief flooded through her as she saw it to be Zelgadis, but something seemed off about him. His face seemed so apathetic, even moreso than usual, but what really stood out was the red glow in his eyes. Despite herself, Amelia shrank back in fear.

Zelgadis didn't register her reaction at all, leaning down and fairly easily ripping the chains from the table. His captive freed, Zelgadis cradled a shocked Amelia in his arms and silently walked from the room.

Not a soul dared try to stop him.

To Be Continued…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's notes: So that's what the mix-up was all about… Personally, if someone mistook me for my big sister only to want to sacrifice me, I'd be pretty freaked out! I'll leave Amelia's muffled speech to the imagination. What do _you_ think she'd say given the circumstances?

I hope I gave enough of a hint as to why Zelgadis is being so silent (and rather scary due to the silence), but if not, Amelia will figure it out as time goes by. In the meantime, here's hoping the duo escapes from the clutches of the cult. (And pray I escape the clutches of being ill. It's really sapped me of my creativity, not to mention sleep. I have absolutely _nothing_ written up beyond this point –only planned out in my head- so please don't review just to say, "UPDATE!" I really do want to pass my classes –which end April 10th, to give you an idea on how close the end looms- so this needs to be put to the side while I write about exciting things like…the odd culture found here at uni. Joy…)

P.S. – The cult Amelia was remembering appeared in the Slayers novels. If you still haven't read them, do yourself a favor and go buy them now! They're worth every penny, in my opinion!


	3. Dawning Realization

Amelia felt an immense sense of relief when the cool night air against washed over her

Amelia felt an immense sense of relief when the cool night air against washed over her. She took a few deep breaths to help calm her nerves, then looked up at her rescuer.

Zelgadis continued to walk in a slow and determined pace, his gaze straight ahead. If not for how carefully he held her, Amelia would have thought he didn't even know she was there.

"S-stop them!" a voice suddenly broke the still night, "Don't let them get away!"

Amelia craned her neck to see over Zelgadis' shoulder, feeling her heart stop to see the cult had finally come to its senses, and a great mass of people were charging right at them! "We need to get out of here!" Amelia urged Zelgadis.

Zelgadis didn't respond, still walking at his steady pace.

The cult was getting closer, Amelia feeling panic rise as they neared. "Mister Zelgadis, please!"

Zelgadis still didn't respond, continuing on as if he'd not heard her.

The cult was less than ten feet away now, causing Amelia to scream, "Mister Zelgadis, _RUN_!! Amelia suddenly found her face embedded in Zelgadis' shoulder, the silent man having suddenly taken off like a shot! His speed was such that she wasn't easily able to remove her head from Zelgadis' shoulder, so Amelia could only rely on her hearing to tell her that the cult was quickly being left behind.

Amelia held her breath, finding it especially easy to do with her face embedded so well into Zelgadis' clothing. When all she could hear were Zelgadis' footfalls through the forest, she finally lifted her head enough to see where they were going, thankful that in his mad dash, Zelgadis was doing a very good job avoiding trees, fallen logs, thick brush...

She again glanced up into his face, still not seeing any sign he was aware of her presence. He still had a completely blank expression on his face, despite his current speed. "I think we can stop now, Mister Zelgadis. We traveled really far."

Zelgadis gave no indication he had heard Amelia.

The panic she'd felt earlier was quickly being replaced by a horrible feeling in her gut. Amelia tried to think back over the past hour, to what had gone so wrong, and why Zelgadis was so unresponsive. The man kept referring to him as a golem...

Amelia's breath caught in her throat, the horrible feeling becoming full-fledged dread. She looked up to him, took a deep breath, and then in a quiet whisper said, "Mister Zelgadis, stop."

If she'd not been held so firmly in his grasp, Amelia was sure she would have tumbled to the ground from how suddenly Zelgadis came to a halt. Amelia wouldn't have minded, hoping it could have woken her from this unfolding nightmare.

"Mister Zelgadis," Amelia stopped herself, the wrongness from what was becoming her reality almost too much to bear. Still, she had to know if what she thought what was happening were truly happening, so, "set me down." she finished at last.

Zelgadis responded by stooping forward and lowering his arms, allowing Amelia to slide out of his grasp. She'd nearly done so when she felt a tug at her cloak, seeing that Zelgadis still held it in his hands. ...or did he? Upon closer inspection she realized his hands were in fact open, but worse, that there was a red stain on her cloak.

Amelia gasped at the sight, quickly reaching for Zelgadis' canteen, loosing some of its contents on her cloak to soften the blood keeping the fabric of her cloak stuck to Zelgadis' palms. "Don't move, Mister Zelgadis. I don't want to hurt you."

Zelgadis didn't reply, but Amelia slowly pulled at the trapped cloak anyway, gradually freeing the fabric. She then poured more water from Zelgadis' canteen on his bloodied palms. Zelgadis gave no reaction, no wincing, frowning, anything. Amelia continued about her work, trying not to think about Zelgadis' current predicament, more intent on first healing his hands before sorting out what to do next. She finally placed her hands over his, a healing spell on her lips. When the wounds had closed, Amelia took her hands away.

Amelia was silent a moment, unsure what next to do. She finally looked back up into Zelgadis' eyes, thankful to see that at least they'd settled to a soft white glow, the red from before completely gone. She reached a hand out to cradle one side of his face, still not getting any reaction. She could feel tears starting to well up, as she realized that what stood before her was now not the man she loved. Whether that man still existed, Amelia had no way of knowing.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears finally freeing themselves to course down her face.

Through it all, Zelgadis gave no response, no indication he even knew what was going on. He just continued to stand where he had stopped, awaiting his next command.

To Be Continued…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's notes: So here it is, many weeks after I said I'd be home from school and able to write. Ha! Didn't happen… I've actually been playing this scene through my head a lot, so I wasn't completely ignoring it. Then again, I fell back into playing World of Warcraft now that it's not blocked, and I'm attending an anime convention next month, so I've been busy sewing a costume. (Second time in eight years. Just shows how many conventions I go to!)

Anyway, I think I ought to stop writing fanfics, it just kills me to get into someone's head, then attempt to put into words what I'm feeling _for_ the character. Writing is strange like that. (And no, I won't stop writing. I just need this bad feeling Amelia was having to leave me to continue to have a good day.)

Do you all understand what's going on yet? If not, Amelia's bound to keep dealing with it, so all will come to light eventually. In the meantime, I need to think about what comes next, get some more sewing done…and perhaps play some more WoW. AND! Get ready for Slayers Revolution! This is turning out to be a good year for Slayers fans!


	4. Confusion

Morning came all too soon as far as Amelia was concerned, and already she was weary of the day

Morning came all too soon as far as Amelia was concerned, and already she was weary of the day. She poked a stick at her small fire, hoping to gain some warmth from her ordeal. She stole a glance over to her silent companion, water still dripping from the tips of his hair.

Amelia let out another sigh.

She had thought the night before to be bad enough, after learning that Zelgadis the man was no more..at least for the moment. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't - couldn't be a permanent thing! Amelia shook the thought from her head. In any case, after their escape the night before, Amelia had wanted for nothing more than to get some rest before deciding her next course of action.

The only problem was, Zelgadis didn't seem to understand the concept.

"Sleep," "Rest," "Be still," she had tried to think of anything to get him to get rest as well, but Zelgadis just silently stared back at her, still no indication of the man to be seen. At her wit's end, Amelia had finally resorted to casting a Sleep spell on him - only then realizing that she should have commanded him to lie down on the ground first, as his dead weight fell right on top of her!

Amelia rubbed her arm unconsciously, still feeling a bit sore from that oversight. As if that hadn't been enough, her solution only opened up the possiblity for more problems. When she'd woken up just an hour ago, she'd turned to notice that Zelgadis had...gained relief in his sleep. Amelia couldn't help but blush and curse at her stupidity. A man would care enough to keep control of his...faculties, but a golem...a golem would have no concept of such things.

Having cast Dicleary to dispell the Sleep spell, Amelia's next plan of action had been to clean Zelgadis' clothing, but again she hadn't counted on just how literally he would take her commands! Before she knew it, he had plunged right into a river. Amelia had chased after to drag him out, thus leading to their new predicament.

Amelia shook her head as she recalled the morning's events, again poking at the small fire in hope that her clothes would be dry some time before...nightfall, the way things were going. She sighed again, looking up at Zelgadis. He didn't quite understand the 'sit' command, so more often than not she let him remain standing. He stood just where she'd last commanded him, but something was different...

His eyes.

Amelia gasped, seeing that red glow from last night returning. She glanced behind herself to the direction Zelgadis was staring, but didn't see anything. She squinted in the early daylight, but still couldn't make out anything that would be setting Zelgadis off.

"...smoke...thi..way."

Amelia bolted up from her seat on the ground, having heard the faint snatch of dialogue on the wind. She glanced over to Zelgadis, who was still impassively staring in the direction of the voice, his eyes glowing a deeper red. It creeped Amelia out.

Without another thought she kicked dirt onto her small fire, all thoughts of getting dry gone from her mind. She had to put the fire out! So caught up in her task was she, Amelia was taken by surprise when she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground as her captor moved off at great speed. She didn't have to look up to realize that Zelgadis had been the one to do it, but it still caused her mind to reel.

"_I never commanded him to retreat, so why.."_ Amelia held on as best she could, allowing Zelgadis to create more distance between them and the cultists from the night before.

To Be Continued…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's Notes: Yes, it's a really short chapter, but not my shortest I've ever written at least. (But, still shorter than I was wanting…) I was originally going to write out all of Amelia's mishaps in dealing with Zelgadis, but it just didn't sound as fun to me, so we get to hear of it after the fact instead. Hopefully people can forgive me on cheating like that.

I was wanting to add more to this chapter, but where I want it to be and where it is currently don't want to connect up nicely. In other words, I'm still hammering out that which goes between. Hopefully I'll have it sorted out soon.

Apologies on being so late with this, but that's also why I posted up a shorter chapter now instead of there possibly being weeks yet to conquer before I have new material. Heck, what with Revolution on pause for now, it ought to help me focus more on my writings since I have to wait to see how the new anime season is going to end…

As always, I love to hear from you! Don't be fearful in leaving feedback. Feedback makes me think, and thinking leads to writing, and writing leads to posting…and it all comes full circle. 


	5. Horrible Realities

Amelia decided that she really didn't care for cults. If she never saw another cultist again, she'd not complain. Ever! Her thoughts continued to drift to what had gone on the night before as her captor continued at a steady pace through the forest. All she knew for certain was that Zelgadis, who was currently holding her in a death grip as he traveled, was no longer himself. Sure, he looked the same, but one couldn't have decent conversation with just that.

Amelia gave out a sigh. She had lost track of time while lost in thought, noticing for the first time that the sun was high enough in the sky for its rays to shine through the trees and smack her right in the face. She squinted against the bright light as she tried to look up into Zelgadis' face for any signs of exhaustion, but as usual his face was blank.

She thought for a moment. She had never asked Zelgadis just what his endurance was like, but any normal person would have been far spent by now. She didn't know too much on golems, but it never hurt to err on the side of caution.

"Mister Zelgadis, stop," she said simply, bracing herself for the abrupt stop she knew would come. Zelgadis did as told, also releasing her when commanded. Amelia again looked at his face for any sign of...well, anything, but Zelgadis just stood where he had been told to stop, that eerie white glow all she could see from his eyes.

"I doubt you'll tell me if I ask, so I suppose I'll have to try something else." Amelia knelt down, lifting up one of Zelgadis' pant legs. The cloth was still a bit damp from their earlier mishap, but Amelia didn't care about that. Instead she massaged his leg, all the while trying to feel for any pulled muscles. She scowled despite herself. His stone hide didn't help in finding that out, either!

"I know you will laugh at me later....that is, I really _hope_ you _can_ laugh me later for this, Mister Zelgadis." Amelia gave a sigh. Even talking out loud for the sake of talking out loud seemed worthless without Zelgadis giving any indication he had heard her. She would have given anything to see even a hint of his usual smirk. Knowing nothing could be done for now, Amelia instead concentrated on casting Recover wherever she thought he might be sore.

When she thought she had done all she could do, since Zelgadis was not going to tell her otherwise, Amelia settled on the ground to think. At the moment she had no idea what to do. She tried a Flow Break on the off chance it would actually dispel whatever spell Zelgadis might be under, but it did nothing. Back to knowing absolutely nothing. Amelia tugged at her hair in a moment of frustration.

A sudden rustle from the nearby bushes startled Amelia. She turned her head in time to see a small bear cub enter the clearing. Before she could move, blink, or even get out a single, "Aw," Amelia heard the horrible sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath. She cautiously turned toward the sound, somewhat relieved to see Zelgadis had been the one to pull out a sword, but also fearful for what he would do with it.

Zelgadis' eyes had again taken on a red glow, the silent man taking a sudden step toward the small cub. He swung his sword back, but the sudden movement was enough to send the bear cub running, bawling as it looked for an escape.

"Mister Zelgadis, no! Stop!" Amelia was on her feet in an instant and ran to Zelgadis, but before she reached him her heart stopped as a loud roar was heard just to her left. Feeling herself trapped in a nightmare, Amelia's head turned to the sound as a very large and very _angry_ bear tore through the bushes!

Amelia quickly jumped out of its way as she turned back to deal with the threat, but Zelgadis was already on the move, placing himself directly in the bear's path. Amelia could only watch in horror as the bear closed the gap, bringing its massive jaws down on Zelgadis' shoulder. With a loud, "Crunch!" it seized him it its grip, intent on dragging him down to the ground.

Zelgadis might have fallen if he were merely human, but when the bear bit into his shoulder all it did was injure its jaws on his stone hide, getting a sword slash in the guts for its efforts. The bear instantly released its hold on Zelgadis and swiped angrily at him, but this too was stopped short by another swing of his sword. The bear, now seriously injured, suddenly thought better of the situation and was quickly backing away from the silent man, but Zelgadis continued to swing into the bear, until the bear fell to the ground in a heap.

Zelgadis' assault didn't stop, despite the threat being gone. He held his sword up as he prepared for one last slash at the bear, but before he could deliver it he was suddenly bound by magical ropes. The sword fell from his grip, Zelgadis himself no longer moving. He just stood there...eyes still glowing red.

Amelia was shaking where she stood, having watched the entire thing. If not for her Lafis Seed confining Zelgadis, she didn't doubt he would have outright killed the bear! She wanted to pass out after seeing such a merciless attack, but she knew she had to tend to the bear. The bear, she reasoned, had only been protecting its cub.

Amelia cautiously approached the bear, being sure to give Zelgadis a wide berth as well. Confined or not, after seeing his attack, she feared he could very easily try doing the same to her. As she got closer the bear turned its gaze on her, offering up a weak growl. Amelia halted in her tracks. The bear was still alive. That was good. Getting the bear to understand she wasn't going to hurt it...that was pretty much shot thanks to her companion.

"It's okay, just stay calm..." Amelia tried to sound soothing as she prepared a spell. She crept closer to the bear, just in case it was able to stand, but the bear never moved. When she could finally reach it, Amelia stretched her arm out to touch the bear's head. An uttered, "Sleep," later, the bear was fast asleep.

Amelia frowned, hearing the bear's labored breathing. She didn't doubt Zelgadis had injured it badly, which meant a simple Recovery wouldn't work. Amelia calmed her nerves more as she cast Resurrection, all the while keeping an eye on Zelgadis. To think he had been about to attack a harmless cub! The bear she might have understood, but what he had done was just too much to think! Amelia shuddered.

She tried to think of happier things, like how cute the cub was, and how glad it would be to find its mother alive and well. Then the two could continue on with their lives, content and alive....

Content and alive...

Amelia felt a tear fall as she looked back at Zelgadis. If she had just watched a glimpse of what he had been before, it chilled her to the bone. That he was so silent and methodical while doing so! She was beginning to understand why Zelgadis had hated his grandfather so.

"No one should _ever_ be allowed to control someone's life like that. Even in death." She would have wiped the tear away, but her hands were busily channeling healing energies into the bear. She finally let her thoughts peter out, busily trying to maintain the spell until the bear was whole again.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's Notes: Wow, I failed miserably! I actually typed this up…gosh, a couple months ago at least, but with Revolution/Evolution-R being a major distraction not to mention a SECRET fic in the works, I completely forgot about writing this. Lets just be glad that while I was cleaning off my laptop's desktop today I decided to read through some of the newer one-shots I wrote and decided to see where I'd left off with this story.

I can't think of much else to say for this chapter since it might be incriminating should I still go with what I'd had planned before, before I decided to go with the bear incident. How'd you like to see your best (male) friend reduced to little more than a killing machine? Especially with Amelia's stance on many things, I have to imagine it's really hard for her to see Zelgadis like this.

(And I'll try not to have spoilers, but lets just say that an episode in Evolution-R made it even more apparent just how badly Zelgadis did take Rezo's betrayal. Man, that episode was kind of scary!)


	6. Bloody Mistake

The intruder's scent was still thick in the air. Even before she was fully awake, the bear knew this. She needed to escape. She groggily got up to her feet, snuffling about for the exact whereabouts of the intruder, and possibly of her missing cub. She spied the intruder not far off, leaned up against a tree...just staring. The bear gave him a warning growl but scooted away. A call out to her missing cub earned a frightened response. Her cub was near, but not here. With one last wary glance at the intruder, the bear disappeared into the brush to locate her cub.

Amelia watched the whole scene play out from her roost high up in a tree. She would have preferred Zelgadis being out of harm's way as well, but she feared he'd have leapt down at the bear, or if not that, would have possibly fallen. Far better to leave him tied up at the base of the tree to face off with a bear he'd made sure would want nothing more to do with him.

Amelia sighed as she started to descend from the tree. She'd have preferred just casting Levitation but she'd already used a great deal of magic, healing the bear only adding to that. She would need a decent meal and preferably a night's worth of sleep before she'd be slinging spells again. She dropped the last foot from the tree, landing near Zelgadis. He didn't so much as bat an eye when she approached, but by this point Amelia wasn't expecting him to. She studied his face intently instead for any sign of aggression.

Zelgadis' eyes were glowing an eerie white again. Not a good thing, but Amelia knew this meant he was back to only acting when told. She released the Lafis Seed spell, Zelgadis' arms falling to hang limp at his sides again. Amelia gave a tired sigh. "Mister Zelgadis, follow me."

Amelia didn't even know where she was going at this point. Preferably toward civilization, even more preferably far away from those cultists. She'd only taken a few steps when she spied Zelgadis' cast off sword laying in a pile of dead leaves. It was crusted with blood. Amelia shuddered. She wanted nothing to do with the weapon, but she knew that Zelgadis would have never willingly parted with his sword. With another tired sigh, Amelia dropped to her knees, reaching out for the weapon.

The sword felt heavier than Amelia would have expected, whether that was due to her not being used to wielding such weaponry or due to her fatigue she didn't know. Seeing the blood might have been sapping her usual strength as well. She couldn't help but retch at the sight of it. So many bad memories threatened to plague her mind that Amelia had to cast the sword aside again, clutching a hand to her forehead.

"You can do this, Amelia, you need to do this." She glanced over at the sword again, but quickly squeezed her eyes shut. "You _really_ need to do this! For Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia could still feel bile rising in her throat but saw no other option. Even if she refused to fight with weapons, she'd certainly learned her fair share of care for such things, if only by watching Gourry and Zelgadis both tend to their weapons after combat. Leaving blood or any sort of liquid on the blade was a bad thing.

Amelia grit her teeth. "It's important to Mister Zelgadis," she repeated to herself again and again as she again picked up the sword. She grabbed some of the dead leaves from the ground and scrubbed at the drying blood. It wasn't a perfect solution since it smeared rotting leaf matter all over the blade, and Amelia managed to nick herself more than a few times, which only added to her work, but eventually she was able to get the sword's blade clean. Amelia climbed to her feet, sword still in hand. Zelgadis was still standing silently nearby. Amelia gingerly dragged the sword over to his side and rather awkwardly got it back into its sheath. Zelgadis for his part never budged.

Her task complete, Amelia took a moment to collect her horribly thick metallic tang of blood still hung in the air. Without anything to distract her, Amelia finally became aware of her senses being overloaded. Without a word Amelia fell back in a faint.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Amelia woke to a low moan. It wasn't until her brain began to clear up that she noticed _she_ was the one moaning. "Ugh," she groaned as she sat up, rubbing her head. "I can't believe I did that." She looked up, noticing that she was surrounded by darkness. She had been out for a long time. She jerked up. "Mister Zelgadis!" As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Amelia was able to make out Zelgadis' still form nearby. He was still as he had been, standing at attention.

Amelia placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart, feeling relief. As her emotions calmed down Amelia could feel exhaustion setting in again. She glanced about her surroundings, knowing full well she was still in the middle of a forest. Sleeping out in the open would not be smart, especially knowing that lighting a fire might draw unwanted attention again.

Amelia got to her feet, knowing there was only one smart solution. "Mister Zelgadis, follow." She would keep moving until daylight. Maybe then she could take a much needed nap.

Walking along silently in the dark was almost unnerving, but Amelia knew she had to keep going. She had already lost a lot of time from passing out. She clenched a fist. "I need to be strong. This won't get the better of me!" She glanced back at Zelgadis who continued to follow along silently. Walking along in the dark next to Zelgadis would have been preferable, but she was still a bit shaken from his earlier reaction to the bears. "_What if he were to do that to me?"_ Amelia shook the thought from her mind.

The two walked on in silence for what felt like hours. At long last the sky took on a lighter hue with the promise of sunrise. Amelia nearly collapsed to her knees at the sight, beyond exhausted by this point. Her tired gaze fell upon the base of a nearby tree; to Amelia it was the best thing she'd seen in days. She took a few more steps toward the tree, gently easing herself against it. She pat the ground next to her to invite Zelgadis to settle in as well, then chided herself for having forgotten he'd not respond to non-verbal cues.

"Mister Zelgadis, sit," she yawned. Zelgadis complied by sitting down where he'd been standing. At this point Amelia was too tired to care, just happy he at least understood the concept of 'sit'. Amelia fought off the overwhelming need for sleep just long enough to cast a Sleep spell on Zelgadis. As his head drooped forward into his lap, Amelia leaned back onto the base of the tree. She was asleep before she knew it.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's Notes: Ever feel like you've fallen into a perpetual black hole? I won't even say how long this has been written up, but my school workload was insane enough this past semester that I completely forget I even had this! I really meant to post it up forever ago, especially since I wrote more... So, to make up for my incredible folly, I'm posting up two chapters at the same time. So far the workload this semester seems much more forgiving, enough so that I had a major bout of inspiration the other night.

Anyway, still feel free to post reviews. I wasn't too sure about this chapter when I wrote it up, but it sounds better to me now that it's..aged properly, or something like that.


	7. Crash

A low growl woke Amelia from her sleep, but it quickly became an unhappy gurgle. She tiredly looked down at her unhappy stomach before feeling the ache in her neck from having fallen asleep leaning against a tree. Her head flopped back against the tree trunk again as her vision adjusted to movement just beyond the forest's edge. At first all she could make out were large shapes, immobile and constant. Smaller shapes flitted between the larger shapes, making noise as they went. As her eyes grew more accustomed, Amelia realized she was staring at a town just beyond the forest. Her heart began to beat faster.

"Mister Zelgadis," she whispered, "it's a town!" Amelia clambered to her feet as best she could, intent to seek out the local market for a decent meal. She took a few steps then realized no one was following her. "Mister Zelgadis?"

A quiet snore drew her attention to the still chimera, who was still slumped where she had left him the night before. His head was still leaning into his lap as he slowly breathed in and out.

Amelia's spirit sank. In her eagerness to gain a good meal she'd forgotten Zelgadis' own predicament. She walked over to him and cast Flow Break, dispelling the Sleep spell she had placed on him the night before. No sooner had the spell gone off, Amelia felt a wave of exhaustion nearly rock her off her feet. She toppled toward Zelgadis, leaning heavily against his back to keep her balance. She grunted as she pushed herself up again. Zelgadis never so much as budged. "Mister Zelgadis, stand." Amelia spoke, nearly falling again when he suddenly rose to his feet.

With a simple command to, "follow", Amelia again set off toward the town, this time with Zelgadis walking behind her. As they got closer to the town Amelia reached back to grip Zelgadis' hand, feeling herself becoming nervous. Upon entering all eyes were instantly on the two newcomers. People continued to go about their business in the afternoon sun but Amelia could still feel people staring. She tried to pay them no heed as she wandered down the street, intent on finding even just a food vendor.

A few streets later Amelia found the local farmer's market, feeling herself becoming overwhelmed with all the wonderful smells of FOOD! Having grown up as she had, she'd never quite realized what it meant to starve. She better understood Lina's violence when kept from food so long. Amelia wanted for nothing more than to tear into the nearest delectable delight but knew better. As she wandered looking for something to sate her hunger, a woman from a nearby booth beckoned to her.

The woman smiled kindly as Amelia approached, picking up a small bushel of produce. "New here, little lady?"

Amelia nodded. "We were just passing through." She glanced back at Zelgadis, but he stood motionless. Amelia turned back to the older woman. "Ma'am, do you know where the nearest city is?"

The older woman clucked her tongue. "All in due time. You don't look like you could get there under your own power as is! Get into some trouble, did you?" She looked at Amelia with concern.

Amelia nodded her head. "I did, yes, but thankfully that's over now." Her stomach suddenly roared.

"My goodness!" The woman looked at Amelia in shock. "When was the last time you had a decent meal? Here now, this won't do at all." She quickly looked through her bushel before producing an apple. "Here you are, dear, it's not much but it's certainly better than nothing." She held it out, smiling all the while.

"I, I couldn't.." Amelia paused, but as she looked at the apple it seemed all the more appealing. Her stomach protested, almost begging to consume the offered apple. Amelia reached out. "I can pay for this," she spoke shyly, her hand drawing ever closer to the apple. The woman continued to hold the apple out to tempt Amelia. With a last glance at the woman, Amelia swallowed her pride and grabbed onto the apple. She started to pull it away from the woman, but the woman's grip suddenly tightened.

With a grin the woman pulled Amelia's arm closer before latching onto Amelia's wrist with her free hand.

Amelia stared back in shock. "What are you doing? Let me go!" Amelia tugged to be free but the woman's grip was strong.

"Sorry to mislead you, little lady, but you're worth something!" The woman grinned.

Amelia suddenly felt a pressure on her back, turning her attention to see Zelgadis was starting to move forward, pushing into her, his eyes blazing red. She whipped her head back to look at the woman. "You don't understand, you need to let me go! He'll kill you!" Amelia tugged to be freed again, but still the woman's grip was too strong.

"I'm not afraid of your puppet," the woman almost laughed. She released her hold on the apple to clap her freed hand onto Amelia's arm, pulling all the while.

Amelia did her best to remain in place, trying to keep herself in front of Zelgadis. "Ma'am, let me go now!" The sound of metal sliding against leather rang in her ears, Amelia dared not turn around to see what she knew was happening. She grit her teeth as she silently cast a spell. With an apologetic look she dropped the apple and aimed her palm at the woman. "Diem Wing!"

The woman was taken by surprise, releasing her hold on Amelia as she was blown across the market. Amelia sagged to her knees, suddenly seeing black spots in her vision. Her hand fell to rest on top of the dropped apple, Amelia exerting what energy she had left to grip it. She felt herself being lifted off her feet, again feeling Zelgadis' arms wrapped around her protectively. "Mi..ser Zelga...dis, run," she managed to get out, then felt herself fall into darkness.

What happened next only came to Amelia in snatches as she struggled to regain consciousness. She could hear shouts and tugs at her clothing at times, but before long nothing but cool air and the rustling of grass and leaves soothed her. She had no way to tell how much time passed, but Zelgadis kept running. Amelia was feeling herself succumbing to sleep again when suddenly she felt herself falling. Reality came screaming back as she hit the ground hard.

Amelia moaned as she tried to sit up, pain coursing through her limbs. What had caused her to fall? Better yet, why had Zelgadis let her? She would have called out to him but she couldn't quite muster the energy, plus she doubted he would respond anyway. She turned her head to look behind her. She felt her heart stop to see Zelgadis lying on the ground, not moving at all.

With a cry she spun herself around, pulling up beside her fallen companion. She silently breathed his name as she tried to roll him over. His face was so firmly dug into the earth she was sure he was suffocating. Her muscles would not obey as she tried to move him, Amelia falling against the still man uselessly. With a cry she tried again, refusing to give up. At last she got enough of a grip that she was able to roll Zelgadis onto his side.

Amelia almost wished she hadn't, Zelgadis staring eerily back at her. She gasped when she looked into his eyes. They were no longer glowing red, but they were hardly glowing white. The light in his eyes seemed to be fading fast. Amelia felt her fears grow as she realized she had no idea what to do.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's Notes: This was originally going to be longer, but I've not had the time to actually sit down and write it, and it seems a good place to have a cliffhanger anyway. (I'm evil, yes.) This part was actually really hard to write, too. It's fact that Amelia becomes extremely exhausted when she over extends herself casting magic, but it's hard to gauge exactly how much and just what it would do to her. I tried to be as realistic with it as possible, factoring in the fact she's not had any real food or sleep for well over a day. Not to mention all of the stress from the past day.

What's wrong with Zelgadis, you ask? Good question. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out if you've been following along, but for now I reveal nothing. I really do hope to be able to write more in the near future, so hopefully his plight won't remain a mystery for long.

(Please don't be afraid to review if you liked this! Poor writers are not psychic writers, we like being thrown the proverbial bone every now and again..)


	8. Hope Fades

"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia cried as she frantically searched him for any sign of injury, anything to give her a clue what had happened. His stone skin yielded no secrets. She finally leaned in close to his face, putting a hand up to his nose and mouth to feel if he was breathing. She did feel a faint breath, hoping that it was in fact Zelgadis breathing and not just the wind blowing. She then placed an ear on his chest. At first she heard nothing, but finally there, a faint heartbeat. Too faint.

Amelia lifted her head back up. "Don't give up, Mister Zelgadis, you can't leave me!" Even as she tried to think of some way to help him, she saw the light fade from his eyes entirely.

And then nothing.

"No!" Amelia screamed. Suddenly people were all about her, and before she knew it Amelia was being lifted up from the ground, the people restraining her as they carried her away. Amelia struggled, but her fear for Zelgadis' life was far greater than her fear for her own. "MISTER ZELGADIS!!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

Amelia's screams echoed into the forest as she was taken away.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Sir?" A cultist poked his head nervously into the leader's main chamber, excited with his news, but also fearful. They had searched fruitlessly for the princess since her initial escape but had finally succeeded in locating her.

The leader looked up from a scroll he had been reading, noticing the younger man peering up at him. "Good news, I presume?"

The cultist stepped closer to the leader, a grin obvious on his face. "Well, yes, but not entirely. You see, she is alive...barely, but she's become despondent."

"Despondent?" The leader quirked an eyebrow, setting down the scroll entirely to turn his focus on the young cultist. "How so?"

"Well, you see," the cultist's voice wavered slightly at the sudden attention, "she seemed pretty lively when we brought her in, yelling and carrying on, but now she's not so much as uttered a sound." The cultist scratched a cheek nervously. "We've given her food to eat and a place to sleep, but she's done little of either. What should we do?"

"Do?" The leader replied with a grin on his face, "Nothing. This will be perfect for resurrecting Lord Ruby Eye. The darker her emotions, the sooner he will arise. One not whole in mind and body is perfect for corrupting!" The leader cackled with glee, but cut himself short. "But what of her golem? I don't want any interruptions this time."

"Dead, sir," the cultist grinned, happy that he could deliver this bit of news. "We were only able to find her since she was crying over it just outside the village."

The leader cackled anew. "Excellent. Then we may proceed without any more interruptions."

The cultist grinned.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Dead. He was dead. And she had done nothing to prevent it. _Could_ do nothing to prevent it. Dead. Despite all of her training, all of her abilities. She had been there, and she had done nothing. And now Zelgadis was dead.

A fresh flood of tears streaked down Amelia's cheeks as she stared at the ceiling of her prison, not caring she was imprisoned. Zelgadis was dead.

Time passed. She was given meals, allowed few scant hours to herself to fall into fitful sleep, but nothing could distract from her reality. Zelgadis was dead, and she had allowed him to die. She had failed him. Her family was cursed after all, never able to save a loved one even when salvation should have been so simple.

Time continued to pass, but the pain would not. She prayed, praying to Ceipheed to keep Zelgadis safe since she had failed to do so. Prayed that Zelgadis would forgive her, even though she could not forgive herself.

Even as she was being strapped onto a table, Amelia was consumed by her grief and guilt. Zelgadis was dead, he would not be coming to save her. Amelia's rational self screamed at her that she needed to do something, to take action to save herself from what was to come, but she would not. The leader stood over her, but Amelia never seemed to notice.

Zelgadis. Was. Dead.

The leader was talking to his followers, waving his arms about in a grand fashion. For all Amelia knew, she was alone, in an empty field. Something cold touched her neck, but Amelia didn't even flinch. Something hot ran down her neck, as if in answer to the cold before, yet Amelia didn't even bat an eye.

Zelgadis was dead.

The leader was suddenly gone from her sight and Amelia felt herself again being lifted, but she did not care at all. Zelgadis was dead, having taken her with him.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's notes: Well, that took longer than I thought! This whole next part was originally going to play out completely different, but then I kept hitting a mental wall. Recently I suddenly had the thought to write it out as you've just read, and I liked it a lot better. (I had a lot of trouble justifying Amelia willingly abandoning Zelgadis in the woods as she trekked back to the cultists since she was at her physical limit. In that way she was committing suicide for herself and Zelgadis...so yeah, very fast plot advancement this way, but overall I prefer it.)

Sorry about this chapter ending on a major downer. Everything happens for a reason. Although I continue to feel I cheated Amelia by having her give up like that. I guess I was channeling her when she thought her father was dead in Next, she completely flipped out and fled the situation. She couldn't exactly flee this time...

I do have the next (and possibly last) chapter already written up, but it might need severe tweaking before I like it. I'll hopefully have it up in a week or so, so don't lose hope like Amelia has!


	9. Here With Me

The amassed cultists were in an uproar, their leader laying in a pool of blood, dead. One of their number had committed the heinous act, but with everyone hooded it was hard to tell which one had done it. The sacrifice had been carried away to a safe location, according to the will of those closest to the now dead leader.

A lone cultist hurried down the crumbling hall, his precious cargo held close. Even as he moved farther away from the confusion he wondered how long he had before they caught on. He nearly tripped as he went, his legs still weak, but he couldn't stop. He had to get her to safety as he had promised.

He breathed a sigh of relief when not a single cultist crossed his path. It would make escape much easier. He dreaded running back out into the middle of nowhere, but he had little choice. If he stayed, it was a matter of time before Amelia was sacrificed. Even with the cult a chaotic mess with the untimely demise of its leader, it would only be a matter of time before another took his place.

It wasn't long before he was again out under the stars. The provided light would make his escape easier, but it would also make it easier for any pursuer to find him. There would be no rest tonight.

Zelgadis frowned. Such was his lot in life. He held Amelia closer as he plunged into the undergrowth. He cringed as branches scraped against his legs, but he pressed on. He would not fail to protect Amelia again.

He avoided the previous path they had taken, instead retracing the steps they had taken what felt like ages ago when they had originally decided to explore the area. A safe haven was a long way off, but at least it wouldn't lead them straight into enemy territory again. If only he had been able to warn her before.

"We'll be somewhere safe soon, Amelia, I promise," Zelgadis whispered into Amelia's ear. He looked down at her, worried that she hadn't moved at all since he had rescued her from the cult. The gash on her neck concerned him, but he didn't think it was deep enough to have damaged anything major. She was still breathing normally, thankfully.

Zelgadis paused a moment, listening intently to make sure they had not been followed. He could hear running water not too far off. Water would be good, both to revitalize them, but possibly also to cover any noise they might make from any pursuers. It would certainly give him time to make sure Amelia was alright.

After walking a short while, Zelgadis did come across a small river, a waterfall nearby. Even more importantly, there were plenty of rocks and other protrusions from the river he could use to conceal himself and his still companion. When he felt he had found a secure spot, Zelgadis gently lay Amelia down on the ground.

Zelgadis reached out to brush hair from Amelia's face, but paused when he looked at his hands; they were filthy. Stabbing someone in the heart with a dagger wasn't the best way to keep your hands clean. His hands still felt like they were covered in fine dust, something Zelgadis couldn't get used to. He paused a moment studying Amelia, then wandered over to the edge of the small river.

Zelgadis gasped as his hands touched the water, not having expected it to be as cold as it was. After the initial shock he recovered, quickly scrubbing dried blood and grime from his hands. The past few days played through his mind again, Zelgadis still in disbelief at what had happened.

He had always been aware of what creatures Rezo had merged him with, but to think they had still been sentient? And even then, that his free will could be overcome so easily? Zelgadis shuddered. But even then, despite that, Amelia had been kept safe. If only it had been enough. Zelgadis shook the river water from his hands, then reached under the cultist cloak he still wore to retrieve his

canteen. After filling it, he returned to Amelia's side.

Right away Zelgadis addressed the gash on Amelia's neck, thankful that, as he had thought, it wasn't very deep, but it was still bleeding. Lacking any way to clean up the blood properly, he poured some of the river water from his canteen onto Amelia's neck. Zelgadis frowned as the blood soaked into Amelia's tunic. Amelia suddenly gasped, causing Zelgadis to look at her face for any obvious signs of consciousness, but Amelia's eyes were still clamped shut as if she never intended to open them again.

"Amelia, it's okay. You're safe now." Zelgadis gently brushed loose hair out of her face, but he saw no further reaction. With a sigh, Zelgadis returned to tending to the open wound. He wasn't keen on using magic on her in her weakened state, but he had little choice. With an uttered, "Recovery," Zelgadis concentrated the healing energies on Amelia's neck, until the wound had closed up entirely.

"One problem down...who knows how many I have left." Zelgadis sighed. "You aren't making this any easier on me, Amelia. We've gone through too much for you to give up. Open your eyes, please. I'll keep you safe Amelia, I promise, just as I promised your father." Zelgadis paused when he noticed Amelia's eyes twitch.

Seizing on some small hope, Zelgadis kneeled close to Amelia, lifting her up until he was somewhat awkwardly cradling her as he peered down into her face. She seemed to react at the mention of her father, might as well milk it for all it was worth!

"Your father would be upset to see you like this, Amelia," he continued. "What am I supposed to tell him if I return with you like this? He trusted me to keep you safe, and I tried my hardest, but Amelia, you know I can't do it alone. I need you here to watch my back, to keep me on my best behavior. I know you won't approve, but Amelia, I killed a man to keep you safe. I'm lost without you here with me."

Amelia suddenly jerked, tossing her head back and forth. Zelgadis noticed her mouth moving, so he leaned in close to hear. "Killed....no, I killed him.."

"Who, Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, hoping he would get an answer. "Who did you kill?"

Pain coursed over Amelia's face as tears leaked from her still shut eyes. "Zelgadis," she sobbed, tears continue to course down her face.

Zelgadis felt a sudden wave of guilt. Despite himself, he held Amelia closer, practically crushing her into his chest. "No, Amelia, no, you didn't kill me. You liberated me! Please, open your eyes and look at me." He adjusted his grip so that her face was peering up into his, waiting.

At length Amelia's eyes did crack open, until she was staring directly up into Zelgadis' face. Her tears ceased, but she could only stare back up at Zelgadis in confusion. Cautiously she raised a hand to his face, resting it against his cheek as she continued to look at the man in front of her. "Mister Zelgadis?" her voice came out quietly and unsure.

Zelgadis nodded his head. He smiled down at Amelia but was taken by surprise when she lowered her hand only to suddenly latch onto him in a death grip. He rocked her as a new wave of tears soaked into his cloak.

"I really missed you," Amelia choked out, holding onto Zelgadis as if afraid he would vanish if she let him go.

Zelgadis shushed Amelia quietly. "I was only gone a day, Amelia." He continued to rock her gently. "I would have come sooner but wasn't able."

Amelia shook her head, her face still buried in Zelgadis' shoulder, muffling her words. "No, even before they took me away, you were gone from me. I tried my best to stay strong, but you weren't with me. I feared I would never see you again."

Zelgadis quirked an eyebrow. "But I was with you the entire time."

Amelia lifted her head up from his shoulder to look into Zelgadis' eyes. She reached a shaking hand out to touch his cheek again, brushing back his soft hair in the process. "In body, yes, Mister Zelgadis, but in spirit...I didn't know what had become of you. I feared you were dead and you would never come back to me."

Zelgadis was silent, thinking over Amelia's words. He gripped onto her free hand, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Even then, Amelia, I never left you. Didn't you wonder why you were able to command me-ah, the golem? You didn't create it, so it had no reason to listen to you at all. Yet it did."

Amelia shook her head still staring intently at Zelgadis' face.

"I was still aware," Zelgadis replied, finding his words a bit difficult to come by just now. "Even though the golem had taken over, I was still able to direct it. I.." Zelgadis' words trailed off as his face flushed.

Comprehension dawned on Amelia. "What did you command it to do?"

Zelgadis cast his gaze away, finding spray from the passing river very fascinating. "Protect. Protect Amelia. I said it again and again." He thought to when the golem hadn't obeyed his will and could have endangered Amelia. "It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was all I could do."

Amelia found herself at a loss for words. Zelgadis could have very well endangered his life in doing all he could to keep her safe. As a matter of fact, he had! She had watched him...or rather, the golem die. "But what became of it? The golem, that is.." Amelia felt very awkward talking about it.

"Gone," Zelgadis smiled. "I can only guess since it had to sustain itself on a human body, when it had no reserves left it returned from wherever it came in the first place."

Amelia nodded. "So that's why your skin is so soft." She smiled.

Zelgadis groaned just then, remembering the pain that had brought him back to his senses. The golem had gone, taking the brau demon with it. To be honest, he wasn't sure how he had even survived beyond that. But he had, and that was all that mattered. He crooked a smile at Amelia.

An owl's cry brought Zelgadis back to the present. He frowned as he placed a hand over Amelia's. "Can you walk?"

Amelia's smile fell as she too became aware of her surroundings. While she was thankful not to be imprisoned or laying as a sacrifice on a cold stone table anymore, the forest wasn't an especially welcome sight. She subconsciously flexed her legs. "I think so."

"Good," Zelgadis replied, easing Amelia from his lap as he stood. "I would offer to carry you, but I'm about spent." Zelgadis proffered a hand to Amelia. "We should go before they catch up again."

Amelia sighed, but took Zelgadis' hand so he could lift her to her feet. She felt wobbly, but it would be wrong to expect Zelgadis to carry her again after all he had gone through for her. She took a tentative step forward, which seemed to signal Zelgadis that they were ready to go, as he fell into step right beside her.

"Where will we go, Mister Zelgadis?" Amelia asked, all the while trying to stay focused on walking so that she didn't trip.

"South," Zelgadis replied. "I apologize, but it's going to be at least another day's journey before we reach a city, but we should be safe once we do. We can alert Saillune from there."

Amelia perked up. "Saillune?"

Zelgadis didn't miss a beat. "To send in some troops to clean up this mess. I don't think your father will be particularly happy to hear some insane cult tried to sacrifice his daughter, do you?"

Amelia shook her head. "Oh. No, he wouldn't." She slumped her shoulders but kept walking.

"Something wrong?" Zelgadis noticed the sudden change.

Amelia sighed. "No, not at all, Mister Zelgadis. I had just hoped, that is, I was wondering what you would do once we return to Saillune."

Zelgadis couldn't hide his smile. "After we bring these cultists to justice?"

Amelia laughed out loud, not used to hearing such words from Zelgadis. "Justice? Mister Zelgadis, there may be hope for you yet! Yes, after we bring them to justice. Would you stay, or are you going to leave again?"

Zelgadis turned his attention back to where they were walking. Amelia did ask a valid question. It had been a long time since he had stayed anywhere for any length of time. It might not be such an easy decision to make.

Amelia paused, watching Zelgadis as he continued to walk on. "Mister Zelgadis?" She asked, hoping to shake him from his thoughts.

Zelgadis also stopped in his tracks, turning back to Amelia. "I don't know, Amelia. I guess that would have to depend." He looked back at her, a serious expression on his face.

Amelia felt nervousness well up inside her as she looked at Zelgadis. "Depend on what?" she finally squeaked out.

Zelgadis dropped his gaze. "You've been following me all this while, aiding in what I was seeking after. It would only seem right that I now do the same for you." He looked back at Amelia from the corner of his eye, feeling very unsure of himself.

Amelia gasped then, but instead of shock it sounded joyous. She practically leaped as she caught Zelgadis up in a hug. "Mister Zelgadis, if you would do me the honor, I would want for nothing more than to have you by my side!" Tears streamed down her face again, but she was so filled with joy she didn't care.

Zelgadis struggled to regain his breath. He would have to get used to such responses from Amelia, but at the same time he couldn't think of any better way to spend his days.

"I would be honored, Amelia."

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's notes: Are the cultists brought to justice? Did the dagger really have the power to summon Shabranigdo? Will Zelgadis actually stay in Saillune? I won't be answering those questions since I like to leave something to the imagination, it can ultimately end however you wish it to. Plus, if it drives readers crazy enough wanting to know, I take full responsibility for any plot bunnies this might breed. ^_-

Anyway, I seem to tread through similar themes a lot, so in many ways this could be seen as an updated version of my very first A/Z fic (Love is Blind) since I continue to run into fans and fanfic writers who think Amelia only likes Zelgadis for how he looks as a chimera. It's always rubbed me the wrong way... Yes, she has said she likes him as he is, but to me she's always accepted him for _who_ he is, not w_hat_ he is. So, in short, this was sort of a retaliation against such mindsets since I let Amelia have Zelgadis' chimera body, but a body is nothing without the spirit it houses! Being a priestess, Amelia might be all for focusing on the real essence of a person instead of their outward appearance anyway (since, lets face it, why would she ever willingly choose to travel with and even develop a friendship with a known thief/murderer/not at all nice person if she couldn't see there was something more there?)

So there you have it. What started off as a simple thought grew into this story. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I suppose that's a good thing since it means I'll keep writing until I get it right! (On that note, I have been working on another story for a while now, but it still has some time before it's done. It will not be related to this story in any way, however. In fact, the theme is incredibly different. I'll be waiting for the mobs to come after me whenever I do post it. Lay claim to your pitchfork and/or torch now!)

Until then!

-Ichiban Victory


End file.
